The Dodgers are in first place and have a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West this morning.

But the Dodgers should be in first place with a 4.5-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West this morning.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning in a game that saw a one hour and 25-minute rain delay, Dodgers reliever Yimi Garcia was but two strikes away from nailing down the win for Dodgers starter Brett Anderson. But instead, Garcia, a right-hander, was left in to face one of baseball’s most dangerous power-hitters, left-handed hitting Carlos Gonzalez, and CarGo took Garcia to deep right-center field with an absolutely devastating 436-foot three-run home run to give the Rockies a 5-4 lead and eventual win.

Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson pitched great for 5.1 innings until rain forced him from the game. But it was his RBI double in the second inning to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead over the last place Rockies that made Dodger fans believe that this game was theirs. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

While it has been long understood that “Any team can beat any other team on any given day,” the burning question that Dodger fans woke up to this morning is: Why did Dodgers manager Don Mattingly even let Garcia face Gonzalez when he had not one, not two, not three, but four lefties in his bullpen? Mattingly’s answer to this question is a bit of a head-scratcher.

“If it was just straight trouble right away then we were going to have to go with [a left-hander],” Mattingly said.

If giving up a first-pitch leadoff single to Rockies catcher Nick Hundley followed by a one-out first-pitch single to center fielder Drew Stubbs isn’t “straight trouble right away,” what exactly is? With 26 outs in the books and only one more needed against one of the premiere left-handed batters in the game, why would Mattingly, who absolutely lives for match-ups, not go with Paco Rodriguez or J.P. Howell or Adam Liberatore or Dan Coulombe?

“We kind of felt like it was Yimi’s inning,” Mattingly added. “We were kind of out of righties for the most part. We’re kind of at that spot where we felt like Yimi was our guy. He’s had two outings that didn’t go his way, but he’s a young guy. So we’ll make sure that we talk with Yimi, trust in his ability, make sure he understands how good he is and looks at it realistically.”

Although Thursday’s heartbreaking 5-4 loss was only the first for Yimi Garcia, it was his third blown save and his second in his last two outings. (Photo credit – Harry How)

In the 30 games in which Carlos Gonzalez has appeared in so far this season, he is hitting a horrible .218 against right-handers but an atrocious .115 against left-handers. As such, could it be that Mattingly was more concerned about trying to get his young right-hander his second save of the season rather than trying to just put this game away? Chances are you will never ever hear Mattingly admit this to anyone, but is certainly has to cross one’s mind. If putting your players in a position to succeed is the primary goal of a manager, Mattingly did exactly the opposite – especially after Garcia allowed two quick base hits in the inning.

With their dramatic come-from-behind win, the Rockies snapped an 11-game losing streak and brought to an end the Dodgers eight-game winning streak over them.

But alas, the Dodgers are in first place and have a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West this morning, and that’s what really matters.